Lovers at the Museum

A Short Story

By: Isabel Allende, Isabel Allende - translator

Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton

Length: 38 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind Knows My Name comes a mesmerizing tale of two passionate souls who share one magical night that defies all rational explanation.

Love, be it wild or tender, often defies logic. In fact, at times, the only rationale behind the instant connection of two souls is plain magic.

Bibiña Aranda, runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao still wearing her wedding dress, draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn’t know. She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there. It’s a story of love at first sight and experience beyond compare, one that involves a dreamlike journey through the museum.

But the lovers’ transcendent night bears no resemblance to the crude one Detective Larramendi attempts to reconstruct. And no amount of fantastical descriptions can convince the irritated inspector of the truth.

Allende’s dreamy short story has the power to transport readers in any language, leaving them to ponder the wonders of love long after the story’s over.

©2001, 2024 by Isabel Allende. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2024 by Isabel Allende. Previously published as Los Amantes del Guggenheim by Círculo de Lectores in Spain in 2001. Translated from Spanish by Isabel Allende. First published in English by Amazon Original Stories in 2024.

Critic reviews

“Nicholas Boulton delights in this story of passionate lovers.… Boulton speaks brusquely as Detective Larramendi separately interviews the couple, who both offer the same explanation. Boulton uses pacing to deliver Isabel Allende's wry humor. As the woman, Bibiña, Boulton gushes with earnestness; as her lover, Indar, he conveys similar honesty but with a matter-of-factness that belies the fantastic nature of the couple's excuse. Despite his crusty nature, Detective Larramendi cannot help being captivated by the magically implausible story that the lovers tell. Neither will listeners.”—AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner

Meh

Beautiful narration of an unremarkable story. Maybe I am just not the audience for this type of story.

Loved this

Delightful and charming as only the beautiful amazing Isabel Allende could present❤️’ I’ve been a fan from the beginning.

hilarious

don't read anything about it; just jump in and enjoy. excellent narration makes the characters come alive.

Excellent storytelling!

I loved the entire story. The description and emotion, also love the voice of the reader.

Needed more of these fated mates

As I was scrolling through my instagram, this book kept coming up and I knew I had to give it a listen, especially since it was available for free on audible. But my real question after giving this very short read a listen is, how can Ms Allende evoke the emotions she does in such a short period of time?
I loved the story of fated mates and how they came across one another when they needed to, yet they found themselves in an unusual predicament and not sure how they got there.
A short story of love, magic, and fantasy, all within the museum.
AND I cannot forget about the audio. Terrific narration by both the female and male narrators that gave life to the story.
My one negative....it just sort of ended. I get that it was a short story and I honestly wish we got more from both the characters, but the ending was too brief for me. Still liked the beauty the story encompassed.

Think I liked this short story

The fact that the lovers were basically captured in a comfort love vortex where the only thing that happened was they couldn't keep their hands off each out is hilarious. And the story they weaved kept me Enthralled. I DID NOT see the ending though. That was a nice twist.

4.5 stars

Not My Cup of Tea

It wasn’t a bad story it just isn’t what I usually read and I probably wouldn’t reread or recommend this to others with my same reading taste :(

A love that could only ever be found in a book!

Talk about a whirlwind romance. This was such a beautiful story to read about. Two strangers meeting, and falling in love so deeply with one another that the very existence of everything around them ceases to exist as it becomes something else entirely. A love so strong and binding that it makes sense to no one but the lovers themselves.

Passing time

The story was a bit strange. Strangers meet. Fall in love. Consummate love in a museum.